For sale: five beds, one Banksy mural

The owners of a five-bedroom house in Bristol spray-painted by the graffiti artist Banksy three years ago have decided to put the 25ft by 6ft mural up for sale through an art gallery - with the attached house thrown in for free.

The house's sale had reached the completion stage several times before, but buyers had always insisted that the mural be painted over. "The owners are not prepared to obliterate it," says Sarah Anslaw, of the Red Propeller Gallery in Devon, which is selling the mural through sealed bids. "They want this important work of art to be preserved. They have fought off several attempts to have the graffiti removed, and are hoping to set up a street art gallery in the adjoining derelict printworks with the proceeds."

The Gallery is hoping that, in the wake of a forthcoming auction at Sotheby's featuring seven Banksy works, the mural will sell in excess of £200,000 - the house's market price, and also the exact amount reportedly paid by Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt for a single Banksy canvas last year.